Hurricane Celeste of August 1972 was the first known tropical cyclone to strike Johnston Atoll as a hurricane. Forming from a disturbance in the East Pacific on August 6, the storm began a general westward movement it would take throughout most of its life. The storm intensified steadily, becoming a Category 1 hurricane on August 10. It kept steady at this intensity until it reached the Central Pacific. Upon entering the Central Pacific, intensification began anew, and by August 14, the hurricane reached a peak intensity of 130 mph (210 km/h). After maintaining this intensity for twelve hours, the hurricane began to weaken while passing south of Hawaii. The weakening phase was similar to its intensification in that the storm lost intensity slowly. Celeste then made a turn to the northwest